There’s a lot of reading done in our house all the time. Caty could spend hours looking at picture books and reading them. We were very excited to get the opportunity to review the second book in the Walnut Grove series, I DOUBLE Dare You! by Dana Lehman.

I love it when the books have hidden social lessons. When you have special needs kids who are working hard at learning appropriate social skills, fun social skills stories are great. In I DOUBLE Dare You!, Sammy’s cousins Silly and Sassy were coming to visit.  Everyone is very excited to meet Sammy’s cousins.

Sammy knew though that his cousins could be a little difficult, and that they could get into trouble a lot. He was hoping that they would not be too much trouble while they were visiting. But Sammy was right, it did not take long for Silly and Sassy to be up to their tricks and causing trouble. Unfortunately, because they were breaking safety rules, there were friends who were injured.

But the most important lesson that Sammy, his cousins and all their friends learn is that there are consequences to your actions. That even though your friends are doing it, it does not mean that it’s the best action to be doing. Throughout the story of I DOUBLE Dare You!, kids can learn how to take responsibility for what they say and do and how to stand up when your friends may be doing something wrong with the examples of their new furry friends.

Caty has fallen in love with the Walnut Grove Series. She and I have ordered the other books in the series to add to her reading pile. This is the stack of books that she keeps in her desk (her favorites) that she reads at least every other day. 

The Lehman Publishing website also offers lesson plans that you can easily download to go along with your reading of the story I DOUBLE Dare You!. They have incorporated ideas to go across the curriculum in math, science, language arts, physical education and art. They are helping parents and teachers to make sure that students are getting the most from the story of Sammy and his friends.

The author Dana Lehman has earned the Mom’s Choice Award for her first book in the series, Adventures at Walnut Grove: A Lesson About Teasing (2009 Silver for values and life lesson) and also for I DOUBLE Dare You! (2009 Silver for Developing Social Skills).

I am so glad that we have discovered the Walnut Grove children’s book series. Dana Lehman has done such a wonderful job with these engaging social stories for all children to learn from. I can’t wait to see what we can learn from Sammy next!

-Product review by Renita Kuehner, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, October 2017